Anuenue (Rainbow)
by Empress Akitla
Summary: Red blood. Orange fire. Yellow bruises. It's the colors of the rainbow, Hawaiian style. Collection of oneshots.
1. Red

**It's not an AU!**

**Welcome to my mini-series of the summer while "Dragons" is taking its hiatus. These are just short chapters centered around a color of the rainbow. There's hurt/comfort, angst, humor, friendship, family, etc. I'll try to post two chapters a week, but we'll see how it goes. ;)**

**Enjoy! And shout out to Phoebe Miller for beta reading this also! Any spelling or grammar mistakes are mine. XP**

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**Red**

The house was nice enough. Hibiscus flowers edged the walkway, butterflies fluttered through the flowers, and the lush green jungle made a desirable backdrop. Except Danny knew better. Knew this house was anything but an ideal paradise here off the beaten path. This was firmly in the center of the flaming hell that had been his week.

His face flushed from running up the driveway, sweat trickling down his neck in the heat, knuckles white from the death grip on his gun, he barely paused before ramming his foot into the door, tossing it wide open. Chin and Kono were right behind him.

There was the bang of the storm door flinging open in the back of the house.

"Go, go!" He ordered.

The cousins raced off to catch the fleeing suspect. There had to be more than one. They knew for sure there were at least two involved. He went from room to room, heart thumping so loud in his ears he didn't hear the movement around the corner, but rather saw it from the corner of his eye.

There was no warning. He just pulled the trigger and dropped the man before he could even level his shotgun at him. Crimson splattered against the wall and pooled beneath the body.

Danny licked his lips. He had to keep going.

Finally, after going through the kitchen, he found the door that wasn't like the others. A chain with a padlock looped around the handle. Obviously, it was customized, seeing as most houses didn't come with basement doors reinforced with straps of metal.

He didn't bother looking for a key. A bullet popped the lock off just fine.

The stairs led down into darkness, a yawning abyss promising nothing good. Bricks lined one side and empty space the other. Swallowing his fear and apprehension, he stepped down and ran his hand along the wall. A dim bulb flickered on.

And Danny saw red. So much red.

"Steve!" He rushed the rest of the way down, eyeing the basement to make sure it was empty. His teeth clenched in fury and a hot tear came unbidden to his eye. "Steve?"

Dried blood clung to his partner's face, dark and crusty. Drops old enough to have turned black spotted the floor in disturbing patterns under the metal chair Steve was bound to. Danny didn't want to think about where it had all come from, though he could tell there were stab wounds, taser marks, burns, and a broken arm with white bone peeking through. Brighter, fresher blood dripped from that one.

"Steve?" He reached out hesitantly and pressed his fingers against his neck. His breath shuddered out in a ragged sigh. There was a pulse under the too warm flesh. "Hang on, babe. Help's on the way."

"Danny?"

"Down here, Chin! I've got him!"

There was the creaking of steps and a sharp gasp as Chin descended.

"Is he…?"

"He's alive." Danny could've laughed. He wanted to cry. He wanted to strangle someone. He'd barely been able to see through the red haze clouding his vision today, and now it had evaporated into dizzying relief that made his hands tremble and his knees shake.

Chin helped him saw through the leather straps holding Steve's wrists to the chair arms. As they worked, Danny heard him moan. It was a firm reminder that he was alive, not dead. The feverish blush in his cheeks and the various shades of red staining his clothes didn't bode well for him, though. The uncleaned instruments of torture hanging on the walls and setting on the tables guaranteed infection. Danny tried not to look, knowing his lividity at the whole situation would swamp his vision again.

He crouched down.

"The bastards chained him," he hissed, trying to figure out how to get the tangle of rusted chain free from around his partner's ankles.

Chin glanced around and walked over to the corner of the dank, dirty basement. Danny rested a hand on Steve's knee. This week had been one of the longest and hardest in his entire life. Finding out their boss and friend had been kidnapped on Monday morphed into several emotions as each day passed. Anger. Fear. Determination. Dread. Resignation. Then finally hope in the wee hours today. It was now Saturday morning, and he knew deep down that if they had waited another few hours, they would've been too late.

"I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner, Steve," he murmured. "We tried. We really did. Took a page out of your playbook and everything. Should've seen Kono almost drown a suspect in a koi pond. What've you been teaching that girl, huh? I'm going to have to have a talk with you about corrupting our fellow officer, so that means you're going to be a stubborn animal and pull through this, you got it?"

"Stand back," Chin said.

Danny scrambled out of the way as Chin raised the ax in his hands and took a mighty swing. The links shattered. They were able to free him just as the whine of sirens permeated the basement.

"EMS is here," Kono shouted down.

"Get 'em in here quick," Danny yelled back up.

He cupped Steve's head in his hand as his partner's eyes blinked open. One eye was nearly swollen shut, the other glassy and confused with his high temperature.

"D'ny?" Steve rasped.

"Yeah, I'm here, buddy. I'm here. You're going to be okay, understand? The nice paramedics are here and I'll go to the hospital with you, alright?" Danny said.

Steve's eyes closed again, some of the tension in his muscles loosening. "Knew you'd come."

Danny dropped his head, grasping the back of Steve's neck to keep himself grounded. A hysterical laugh bubbled in his throat. "I'll always come. You Neanderthal."

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**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Orange

**This is a bitty one. Sorry guys. Hope you still like it.**

**Enjoy! And shout out to Phoebe Miller for beta reading this also!**

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**Orange**

The glow of the bonfire bounced on the sand and reflected on the curls of the waves as they rolled in. Steve could smell blooming citrus trees on the breeze, sweeping down the shore along with the scent of salty sea air and the woody smoke of the fire.

"To Danno's first wave," he said and held his amber beer aloft.

"He actually made it up on the board," Kono laughed.

"Hey, hey, you know how long it even took for me to get near the water to start with?" Danny objected.

Steve grinned at his partner. They were perched around the shallow pit on the beach, snugly sitting on the cooling sand. Danny had gratefully accepted a beer, kicked off his shoes, and plopped down next to his daughter earlier in the evening. The smiling faces of father and daughter were something Steve didn't want to forget anytime soon.

"You did good, buddy," Steve said.

"Yeah, Danno. I can't even stay up on a board that long," Grace added.

"Don't worry, sista. We'll work on it," Kono promised.

Steve sipped from his beer and watched the embers dance amongst the blackening chunks of wood. The laughter of his team warmed his heart. Day in and day out, they lived dangerous lives and pursued dangerous people. They never knew what day might be their last. Though, if Steve had anything to say about it, no day would be their last under his watch. He would make sure they could always relax like this with their families. With each other. Their _ohana_.

"Now that looks like something from a postcard."

He glanced at Danny and then inclined his eyes to where he was looking. The horizon was ablaze with blinding golden yellow, fading outward to a fiery orange and vivid red before darkening into the velvety night sky. Ribbons of peach and ochre shimmered on the surface of the water, brightening briefly before crashing on the shore.

"There's a reason Hawaii's called paradise," Steve said softly.

Danny lifted a hand. "Yeah. I guess it's okay."

Steve twisted to argue with him over it just being 'okay', but caught sight of the ornery twinkle in the pale blue eyes.

"Just like I'm an okay partner?" he asked with a barely concealed smirk.

"Just like you're an okay partner," Danny said.

The warm familial love that flooded his veins was something he didn't want to let go of. Ever.

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**Thanks for reading! Yellow next week is more hurt/comfort/humor oriented.**


	3. Yellow

**This one was definitely inspired by an email from Phoebe. Enjoy! And shout out to Phoebe Miller for beta reading and inspiring this one, too!**

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**Yellow**

He hadn't meant to do it. It hadn't been his intention. He'd made a choice, followed it through, and the outcome didn't turn out like he thought it would. As team leader, it was his job to make decisions and stick with them.

But all the explaining in the world wouldn't fix what he had done. He could bring in as many yellow roses at Grace's direction and all those flowers would never cover over his mistake. Originally, he hadn't even thought about flowers. He was a suck it up kind of guy. But Grace, sweet and strong willed Grace, had convinced him he better do something. And Kono standing supportively behind her hadn't helped.

The sun burned brightly overhead, golden rays piercing the gray clouds and burning them off. It was going to be a beautiful day. If only he wasn't walking through the hospital parking lot.

The inside of the building was cold and sterile compared to outside. His nose itched at the small of antiseptics. He hated hospitals. Nothing good ever happened in them.

"I'll go let him know you're here," the nurse at the station said brightly and hurried off down the hallway.

He didn't even get a chance to offer to go get his partner himself. Though, at least this way, there was less of a chance of him getting clocked with a bedpan than if he had barged into the room.

Blowing a breath out, he sat in one of the stiff chairs and waited. A colorful mural of the Hawaiian jungle sprawled across the wall opposite of him. Hibiscuses broke up the green as did the vividly painted birds that he was pretty sure weren't native. Or at least had had their colors saturated for the sake of aesthetic.

The telltale sound of his partner's gait grew closer.

He held back his grimace at the bruises plainly seen under the white shirt collar. The purple one on his cheekbone was the starkest. In a week's time, they would all be yellow. Yellow and ugly. Ugly like his partner's mood.

"Do not even open your mouth."

He snapped his jaw shut at the hand held up to forestall anything he was going to say.

"Let's go."

He didn't say anything until they got to the Camaro.

"Look, man, I'm–"

"I'm sorry, are you speaking? I thought I just told you to zip it. I don't want to hear another word out of you. All I want to do is take a shower in my own shower and go to sleep. Maybe I'll wake up in the morning to find this has all been some terrible dream and that my partner doesn't actually have it in for me, though that is still up for debate."

They pulled out of the parking lot in silence, the interior of the car cold despite the shining sun.

"Did you get my flowers?"

"Did I get…are you kidding me right now?"

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"Now you finally say it."

"What, that I'm sorry? The several dozen yellow roses didn't say that for me?"

"No. Because you never actually said you were sorry for trying to kill me yesterday. All you did is attempt to bury my hospital bed in flowers after giving me several lame, and I mean really lame, excuses and reasonings and 'He was going to get away, Danno, I had to do something' spiels. Guess what? It was Kono who took down the guy. Your stupid plan didn't even work!"

He stared at the road in front of him. It took some effort to beat back the flush in his cheeks. Both from embarrassment and anger.

"I didn't know you were right there."

A hand went flying up in the air. "That's not the point. The point is you should've never gone through with your Wile E. Coyote worthy plan in the first place."

"I'm sorry, Danny! I'm sorry for almost killing you in a pineapple avalanche. There. Happy?"

His partner spluttered. "Happy? Happy?! I am not happy in any form of the word. You know why? First, you lobbed a pineapple at our suspect, and totally missed by the way, and then you, thankfully, missed hitting me who was in pursuit of our suspect."

"I wasn't–"

"Second, your stupid pineapple hit the precariously stacked crates and caused one to empty its contents onto me, allowing our suspect to get away. Do you know what it feels like to be attacked by several hundred pineapples at once? Do you, Steven?"

"I–"

"It feels like falling into a rose bush, but in reverse. With more bruises. A sweet smelling death."

"Danny–"

"And third, as if being smushed by big, heavy, spiky fruit wasn't enough, I got bitten by a spider. A freaking giant banana spider. And then you know what else happened?"

The events that transpired were well known to him. They'd been replaying in his head for the last twenty-four hours. It didn't slow down his partner.

"I had a mild allergic reaction to said spider bite. Then, the hospital refused to let me go home last night, because they wanted to keep me for observation in case my throat closed up and I could no longer breathe. Then this pineapple infested hellhole would have finally succeeded in killing me!"

He glanced across the car. "You done?"

"Not by a long shot, but I'm good for now."

The silence hung in the air between them like the overwhelming scent of sticky sweet pineapples.

"I am sorry."

"Your apology is pending acceptance, but is appreciated."

He relaxed in the driver's seat somewhat. The calmer atmosphere between them was a welcome relief from yesterday. A small smirk tugged at his lips.

"But it was pretty funny."

"I hate you."

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**Thanks for reading! Next up is my favorite color.**


	4. Green

**Green's definitely my favorite color. Not sure if this is my favorite chapter, but I hope you guys still enjoy it. ;)**

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**Green**

Green was an interesting color. In fact, Danny didn't think he'd ever pondered so much over a color.

He'd been green before.

Green around the gills. May 18, 1996. The last time he'd puked. It was a long and convoluted story that he was reluctant to tell. It couldn't have been something simple like the flu or food poisoning. No, he was Danny Williams and his life was never simple. From that day forward he hated being even vaguely nauseas and he really didn't need to be thinking about this right now. His head pounded and his stomach clenched uneasily anyway.

Green with envy. He'd felt that one in recent years. Every time he looked at Rachel and Stan. It wasn't jealousy he felt, it was envy. Because he didn't just want what Stan had, he wanted to take it away from him. He wanted Rachel back by his side and Grace under his roof full time. He wanted it to go back to when they had been a young, dumb couple living in a tiny house in Weehawken. Before everything went sideways. Before she left him for a 'safer choice'.

He was familiar with the green eyed monster. Far too familiar. But he wouldn't do anything to hurt Rachel. Most of all, he wouldn't do anything to hurt Grace. So he ignored the envy and settled for a paler green acidic dislike of the whole situation.

Officially, green stood for life, for freshness, renewal, energy, and nature. Clean. Soothing. Peaceful. It had never been one of his favorite colors for reasons unknown. Not that he preferred yellow grass over green grass. He was a city boy and a lot of green meant he wasn't in the city. He was in nature where he was not at the top of his game.

And by god, there was so much green on this island.

Danny blinked slowly. The fuzzy outlines of the emerald leaves above him sharpened into focus briefly before blurring again.

The jungle was full of green. Hunter green, camo green, spruce green, moss green, swamp green, lime green, chartreuse, peridot, honeydew, leaf, shamrock, peacock, spring, fern, mantis, acid, crocodile, avocado, murky, olive, algae, and so on and so forth. It was too much green.

He was surrounded with green. Laying here in the shallow gully on the jungle floor with nothing else to look at except the inside of his eyelids, he was forced to look at all the green.

Green was a comforting color. Calming. Eased anxiety.

All he could see in the variety of greens cradling him was his casket. This was where he was going to die. His body left to rot into garish, sickly greens, his bones reclaimed by the earth, his last breath left to whisper through the rustling canopy.

Except, he couldn't die yet. He was Danny Williams and he couldn't simply let the all encompassing green take him. Because his idiot partner was out here somewhere with him, also shot and slowly bleeding out.

So much green everywhere, evidence of the presence of water, and yet his mouth was as parched as a neglected lawn in Phoenix in the summer. It took him three tries to even get a sound out.

"St...Steve?"

Birdsong. Insects humming noisily in the branches above him. A cricket chirped somewhere near his ear and a butterfly fluttered in front of his face. Already the forest thought him dead.

"Steve?"

Buried in the high notes of the birds flitting about in the trees, he heard a moan. Low. Off to his right. The tiniest shuffling of leaves on the ground as someone shifted.

"Steve? You okay?"

The lack of answer worried him. Though, maybe his partner couldn't actually hear him. He could barely hear his own voice as the ringing of cicadas drowned out his very thoughts.

A gentle breeze wafted by. Fresh. Clean. Birds sang merrily and danced between the moss and vine covered limbs. Energetic. Lively. The insects marched on with their daily lives, one crawling over his fingers. Renewal. They would make sure he didn't go to waste. Circle of life.

With the golden dapples of sun peeking through the shuddering canopy, the peaceful orchestra of the jungle all around him, and the fading pain, he began to recant on his previous thoughts. As far as final resting places went, this one with all its greens wasn't too bad.

And then, he saw the truly most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life, besides his daughter on the day she was born: Kono's face eclipsing all the green and her voice overcoming the breathing of nature.

"We've got you, brah. You guys are going to be okay."

Danny nodded and sighed. Green would never be his favorite color.

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**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Blue

**A short, sweet one featuring our favorite girl.**

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**Blue**

When asked at school what her favorite color was, Grace said blue. The other girls always went with pink or purple, or in one case red. But she liked blue the most. And she liked it for several reasons.

First and foremost, it was Danno's favorite color. He had a lot of blue shirts and blue ties. He liked blue slushies and popsicles. However, he didn't like bleu cheese. His eyes were also a pale blue, a color Grace occasionally wished her eyes could be.

Second, it was Uncle Steve's favorite color, too. He liked darker blues, though. His truck was a shiny deep blue, his shirts were navy blue, his office was blue. Grace's favorite blue part about him were his eyes. They were blue like dark storm clouds.

Third, she was surrounded by blue on the island. And she enjoyed it.

Today, sitting on her surfboard in the water with Auntie Kono floating next to her, she decided she really loved blue. The sky was a powder blue, the water a turquoise, her bathing suit a teal with white polka dots. Blue was supposedly a cool color, but today it felt warm.

"Thank you for teaching Danno to surf," she said, watching her dad cruise across the curl of a wave followed by Uncle Steve.

"He had it in him. He just needed a little convincing to let his inner surfer come out," Kono said.

Grace and Kono winced as her father wiped out when Steve came too close. Steve plunged off his board as well. They both popped up in the water seconds later, and they didn't need to be close enough to hear the rant. They could see Danny's hands flying from here.

"Those two _lolos_ are going to be black and blue before we leave the beach today," Kono said and shook her head.

"And then Danno won't be happy," she said, making a face. Kono laughed. She grinned and looked over at her. "What's your favorite color, Auntie?"

Kono hummed. "Does black count?"

"No, that's a shade, not a color," she objected.

"Then blue. Like the ocean. Or maybe orange. I like all the colors. Why do you ask?"

She sighed. "Someone asked at school the other day and they all said blue was a boy color, but I like blue."

"Blue rocks. Pink's overrated, anyway," Kono said. "Don't worry, little sista."

She nodded. "What's Uncle Chin's favorite color?"

"Red."

"I can see that," she said.

The five foldout camping chairs on the beach matched their favorite colors respectively, then. Almost. Chin had the red one, Kono had the orange one, Danny had the light blue one, Steve had the dark blue one, and she had the pink one.

"I need a new chair."

"I can hook you up with a cool one, too," Kono said. "A friend of mine has a camping store."

"A blue one with flowers on it?"

"You know it."

Grace smiled great big. Warm turquoise water, clear blue skies, and the best _ohana_ ever. Oh yeah, she definitely loved blue.

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**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Indigo

**One from Steve's POV for once. ;)**

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**Indigo**

Steve wasn't a complete caveman. He knew things. Now, he may not have been as versed in different colors as his partner, and maybe lavender and lilac looked the same to him, but he knew more than the primary colors. He could identify shades of blue, or green, or red. Of course, as Danny liked to tell him, knowing the difference between the red of dry blood and the red of arterial spray didn't count.

Even if the difference between royal purple and eggplant escaped him, he knew one thing for sure: the night sky wasn't black.

Here on the Big Island, lying in a hammock under the stars with Catherine tucked against his side, he could see with his very own eyes the sky was much richer than a simple black. It was velvety. Soft. The remnants of the setting sun tinted the western horizon with just a touch of pale light that quickly darkened to an inky view of the space beyond the planet.

"Watcha thinking about?" Cath asked quietly.

Steve smirked. He thought she had fallen asleep. "What color do you think the sky is?"

"Indigo," she said.

He perked a brow and craned his head down toward hers where it was resting on his chest. "Indigo?"

"It's like a dark purplish blue," she said and shrugged. "Why? What do you think it is?"

"Not black."

She chuckled.

He inclined his head back to the swath of stars above them. The light pollution here was less than where he lived on Oahu. It was quiet save for the crickets and the distant rumble of the ocean.

The stars twinkled in clusters, some so small they were nearly invisible. Others made up the points of constellations. He knew them well. A clear sky at night made for a fine compass. And he had relied on that compass many times, literally thanking the stars whenever his life was saved by them.

"You know what," Cath started quietly.

"Hmm?"

"No matter where I've been in the world, the night sky is always the same."

"I think the same thing every time I see the moon," he said.

The moon hadn't risen yet, but he knew as soon as it did, memories of being in a desert cave in a foreign country would surface. His body hurting, his soul weary, his spirits low, he would look up and see the off-white face of the moon peering down at him. It would take him home. To his sister, to his dad, to his mom. When things were good. Before everything went bad.

The constellations would glide across the abyss of the night, different ones vying for space depending on the season and where he was in the world. Orion with his bow. Ursa Major with Ursa Minor nearby. Cygnas flying overhead. Scorpius with its arching tail. Draco dragging all of its stars behind it.

He'd drop his head and try not to think about it. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to face his dad after he'd shipped him off into the Navy and sent Mary to live with Aunt Deb. The sky always reminded him of home, but he never let it lead him there.

"Everything's changed," he murmured after contemplating the hoary scattering of specks high above their heads. "Everything but the sky."

"And we're always looking at the same sky, no matter what," Cath added.

He nodded.

The deepness of the night sky, the never-ending stretch of darkness, it scared some people. But not him. The indigo night with its vast canopy of stars was an anchor. Comforting. Familiar. With the night sky above him, he would always find his way home.

And now that he had made a home, he would always return.

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**Thanks for reading! Next week this little project wraps up with Violet and Rainbow, and my other fic "Dragons" returns.**


	7. Violet

**I totally didn't intend for this one to be angsty. Also unbeta'd, because I'm a scatterbrain and didn't run it by Phoebe. XP**

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**Violet**

Chin was a man who had grown used to shattered dreams. That may have been a depressing view, but it was true. His ingrained calm and amiable nature had been put into the forge more than he wanted to count. They said what didn't kill you made you stronger. Often, he felt more broken. Chips of himself breaking off.

He hadn't had a bad childhood. There were the usual struggles that came with a big family and having several cop relatives. The real trouble started with the whole asset forfeiture locker debacle. That was the first heavy hit.

Him choosing to let Malia go was another crack in the soul.

Sitting there at Pearl, holding his broken pieces in his hands, he wallowed a bit. He was man enough to admit that. Between his fellow officers and his family ostracizing him, the downward turn of his career, and the separation from Malia, he just didn't have the energy or the hope to try to even put the pieces back together.

Until Steve McGarrett walked in.

And Danny Williams with his daughter Grace followed.

And then even he and Kono grew closer on the taskforce.

A small, serene smile settled on his face. He'd never expected to have an _ohana_ like that.

With a certain deftness, he moved the brush from the paper plate of paint back to the wall without dripping a drop. A flower bloomed from beneath the bristles. He was no artist, but small flowers with simple petals was something he could handle.

It was the color, though. Violet. Malia's favorite color.

His brush halted.

The worst hit, the one that had nearly shattered him beyond repair, had been her death. Images of her in her pristine wedding dress were replaced by her blood soaked chest. Her warm smile no longer living, slack and lifeless. The smiles on his best men's faces replaced by their solemn, supporting hands out there in the water as he spread her ashes.

"You okay, Uncle Chin?"

He swallowed and looked over at Grace. She was sat cross legged on the floor of her recently painted bedroom. Her brush dripped a blob of a richer purple onto the plastic sheet her father had had the foresight to lay down.

He and Malia had planned on having a family. They both wanted kids. She would've been a great mother. Fatherhood scared him, but it was a challenge he had been read and willing to tackle. Excited to tackle, even.

That dream lay in fragments.

Grace scooched across the floor towards him, bumping into his arm as she checked out his work on his section of flowers.

"Yours look way better than mine," she said. "Can you teach me how to paint flowers like those?"

"Of course, little sista," he said.

Taking her small hand in his, he guided her in painting the delicate petals. Dab of paint. Light hand, then push down. The bristles spread the color smoothly. Then taper off. Repeat. Paint. Light, hard, light. Repeat. They laughed as one petal came out far shorter than the others.

"It's a stumpy petal," Grace giggled. Warm, bright, kind, genuine.

"Makes the flower look a little funny," he said.

She shook her head. "It makes it unique."

And with that she turned and hugged him. A good, solid hug like her father gave.

She returned to her spot to continue painting the flower garden she was working on, leaving him with a bittersweet taste.

He may have been broken many times, but he had people to help him put back the pieces now. He would never be the same man he was decades ago. No, not after all his shattered dreams. With new hands helping fit the pieces back together, helping hold them in place, he could continue on. Cherish the memories of his dreams, and look for new ones.

Kono had called him a _kintsugi_ vase before. Shattered, yes. But put back together with gold. Someone worth keeping. He was loved, no matter how many cracks had to be filled in. No matter how many dreams shattered.

And that was enough for him.

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**Thanks for reading! The final chapter Rainbow will either go up Thursday or Friday.**


	8. Rainbow

**The conclusion!**

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**Rainbow**

The red rose in Grace's cheeks as she understood Kono's slightly off-color joke, and then she laughed. Danny's cheeks flushed in concern and embarrassment that his daughter was growing up too fast.

"PG, babe! PG! How many times have I told you to keep it PG?" he slapped the back of his hand into his other palm for emphasis, but he was starting to laugh, because darn it, it had been kind of funny.

The orange glow of the sunset danced in Kono's eyes as she laughed heartily at the scolding. Chin rubbed his forehead, shaking his head at his cousin, but a warm and fond smile graced his face.

Steve smiled at the antics of his team. He held out another beer to his half agitated and half amused partner. Danny accepted it without thinking. It wasn't until he was putting it close to mouth did he stop and look at the label.

"You jerk. You're trying to get me to drink pineapple beer? What's the matter with you?" Danny gestured at the fruity label and tried to push the bottle back towards him. "Just give me a regular Longboard, huh?"

"You never know, you might like it. But you won't even try it," Steve said. He handed him a standard beer.

"Nuh uh, I smelled it and knew immediately that hops and pineapple should never be combined," Danny said.

Steve smirked and kicked his feet up on the railing of his deck. A refreshing breeze rustled the dense foliage surrounding his backyard, clean and salty from the sea. It had been a bit of a scary summer, starting with his kidnapping, then the pineapple avalanche incident, and then him and Danny nearly dying out in the jungle. He only hoped that the change of season would bring with it better circumstances. Less of a chance of his partner getting killed, at least, whether that be from a random fruit accident or a maniac with a gun.

"I'm so excited to go camping next week," Grace said. "I can use my new chair."

Kono fist bumped her. Steve wasn't sure what it was over, feeling it had something to do with an inside conversation.

"Yeah. Hopefully there's no gun toting nutcases this time," Danny said.

"Danno."

"What? I'm just saying. So far, none of my camping trips have gone as planned."

"It'll be fine," Steve said, and waved off his negativity. He raised a hand. "We'll get to see the stars once we're away from the city."

The sky hadn't quite deepened to the rich, velvety indigo Steve loved, but it was getting there. The brightest stars blinked into existence as the sun sank below the horizon. An obscuring white glow to the west marked downtown Honolulu with its bustling tourist life.

"I can teach you how to read the stars," he said.

"What, like horoscopes?" Danny asked.

"No." He shook his head. "Like a map. If you can see the stars, you can always find your way home."

"Home," Chin repeated softly, nodding. A little louder, he added, "We'll always get back to each other, because that's what _ohana_ does."

Danny raised a beer. "Amen."

And together the team enjoyed the colors of the rainbow that were present everywhere around them. In every flower, in every fruit, in every street, in every storm, in the ocean, in their laughter and smiles. But most importantly, they stuck together, no matter what color came their way.

* * *

**And that was the somewhat cheesy conclusion to this colorful adventure. Tune in for any future fics. Possibly a Shades of Darkness collection...**

**Thank you for reading!**


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